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Houdini 3d printer
Houdini | 3D Procedural Software for Film, TV & Gamedev
Houdini is built from the ground up to be a procedural system that empowers artists to work freely, create multiple iterations and rapidly share workflows with colleagues.
FILM/TV REEL
GAMEDEV REEL
Node-based Workflow
In Houdini, every action is stored in a node. These nodes are then “wired” into networks which define a “recipe” that can be tweaked to refine the outcome then repeated to create similar yet unique results. The ability for nodes to be saved and to pass information, in the form of attributes, down the chain is what gives Houdini its procedural nature.
Artist Friendly Tools
While the nodes are what makes Houdini unique and give it power, there are lots of viewport and shelf tools that allow for artist-friendly viewport interactions. Behind the scenes, Houdini builds up the nodes and networks for you. Houdini lets artists explore different creative paths because it is easy to branch off a new node to explore alternative solutions.
Luchttann character from Ary and the Secret of Seasons by eXiin
VFX & Simulation
Visual effects artists gravitate to Houdini because its procedural workflow is ideal for creating sophisticated particle and dynamic simulations. Effects are typically designed to react to actions taking place in a shot and a procedural solution “automates” these reactions providing studios with more creative control and more rapid turnaround.
Artwork by Tighe Rzankowski
Shots & Multiple Iterations
Houdini lets you make creative decisions deep into production as changes made to Houdini nodes cascade through the network to create a new and unique result.
This directability is retained throughout the creative process and can be used to make last minute decisions that would be too costly in a traditional CG pipeline.
Artwork by Anastasia Opara
Pipeline in a Box
Whether you are setting up a shot or building a game level, Houdini lets you create tools that can be reused many times during a project’s life cycle. Instead of simply reacting to issues and problems, you will be able to plan ahead and visualize and refine your pipeline.
Artwork by Remy Wollerich
Asset Creation Tools
A big benefit of Houdini’s node-based approach is the ability to encapsulate node networks into custom nodes that are shareable. Create these digital assets without writing any code then share them with other Houdini artists.
With the Houdini Engine, open assets in other applications such as Autodesk Maya, Autodesk 3ds Max, C4D, UE4 and Unity with the asset’s procedural controls available for editing in the host app.
Artwork by Phillip Von Preuchen
Film & TV
Create more shots under tight deadlines while achieving feature film quality results with Houdini’s procedural node-based workflow. Experience unprecedented levels of flexibility and control to enhance both your creativity and productivity.
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Gamedev
Game developers face a growing demand to build huge immersive worlds populated with vast amounts of content. In order to achieve great gameplay while meeting deadlines, a procedural approach using Houdini offers a smarter way to create quality games.
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Motion Graphics
Designers, animators and storytellers use motion graphics to create content that stimulates audiences using powerful and compelling visuals. Create a wide range of aesthetic and dynamic experiences using Houdini and its procedural node-based toolset.
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VR
Virtual and Augmented Reality creates a complete experience that takes the viewer to places they've never been before.
Houdini provides a powerful set of tools that makes it easier to create and manage the content used to populate these amazing digital worlds.
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Houdini FX
Houdini FX delivers a powerful and accessible 3D experience with its procedural node-based workflow, while providing tools for simulating fluids, destruction fx, pyro fx, grains, cloth and crowds.
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Houdini CORE
Houdini Core is designed for modelers, lighters, character riggers, animators and game artists. Scenes and digital assets created in Houdini FX can be opened, manipulated and rendered in Houdini Core.
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Houdini Indie
Houdini Indie makes all of Houdini FX’s animation and VFX tools available under an indie license to animators and gamedevs who want to use Houdini during the incubation stage of their business.
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Houdini Apprentice
With Houdini Apprentice, students and hobbyists have access to virtually all of the features of the award-winning Houdini FX which can be used to create personal non-commercial projects.
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Learn how to use Houdini’s node-based workflow to create optimized game art using tutorials created by industry professionals and by SideFX.
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CORE Features | SideFX
Model, Animate, Render and More...
Houdini Core delivers a powerful and accessible 3D animation experience to CG artists creating feature films, commercials or video games. With its procedural node-based workflow, Houdini Core is ideal for modelers, lighters, character riggers and animators to use on its own or as a layout and lighting tool for visual effects created in Houdini FX.
Houdini Core offers a pipeline-in-a-box that lets you easily package up workflows into Digital Assets and share them with colleagues using either Houdini or Houdini Engine plug-ins for apps such as Maya, 3ds Max, C4D, Unity and Unreal.
Work Smart
Procedural modeling techniques can be used to maintain a robust construction history and to create complex models such as cityscapes, environments and more.
Artwork by Marina Bade
Viewport Interaction
The modeling tools in Houdini make it easier to create good surface topology for use in Film, TV, Games and VR, and can be used interactively in the viewport using a wide variety of polygon, NURBS and Subdivision Surface modeling tools.
BOOLEAN
BEVEL
POLYFILL
Houdini’s lighting workflow provides a flexible and powerful environment for managing lights, building shaders and defining the look of a shot.
Environment and GI lights work well with Mantra’s physically-based rendering.
SOLARIS is a suite of look development, layout and lighting tools that empower artists to create USD-based scene graphs that go from asset creation to final render. Solaris integrates with USD's HYDRA Imaging Framework for access to a wide range of renderers such as the new SideFX Karma [Beta], Pixar RenderMan, Autodesk Arnold, Maxon Redshift and more.
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MANTRA RENDERER
Mantra includes scanline, raytracing, and physically-based rendering. Mantra is deeply integrated into Houdini with highly efficient rendering of geometry, instances and volumes.
THIRD PARTY RENDERING
Choose from a wide variety of third party renderers such as Pixar’s RenderMan,® V-Ray, Solid Angle’s Arnold, Redshift and Otoy’s OctaneRender.®
COMPOSITING
Houdini includes a node-based compositor which is perfect for creating slap comps.
Lighters can test out render passes before sending plates to artists working with other compositing apps.
Animation and Rigging
Houdini offers a complete solution for rigging and animating characters and creatures. These tools include Auto-rigging, Muscle and Flesh, Pose Space Deformation, VELLUM Cloth, Hair and Fur and more. KineFX is a new character toolset designed to provide a procedural foundation for retargeting, motion editing, and in future releases, rigging and animation. The Biharmonic skin capturing will save riggers valuable time while the FEM-based muscles produce highly realistic results.
The node-based approach fits perfectly with the working methodology of a typical character rigging TD. Characters can be easily wrapped up into a pipeline-friendly Digital Asset node to be animated using invisible rigs, the character picker and the pose library.
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Grooming
The hair and fur framework in Houdini includes grooming tools designed with the artist in mind.
Use the Curve Advect tool to set up large scale grooming directions by drawing a few quick curves. Easily add guard or white hairs for animal fur and partition your model into different areas to create local grooms that can be merged into a single fur once you are ready. Then use the VELLUM solver to add dynamics to your fur.
Artwork by Andriy Bilichenko
Generation
Houdini’s terrain system lets you layer and edit terrain easily with tools such as procedural noise, or paint or mask out areas directly. The operations are very similar to image compositing, so terrain artists will find the workflow familiar.
Artwork by Alex Dracott
Open VDB
The Cloud FX tools offer an artist-friendly way of building, sculpting and rendering cloud formations. This workflow utilizes sparse volume sculpting tools created as part of the OpenVDB open source initiative.
Artwork by Urban Bradesko
CORE FEATURES AVAILABLE IN:
Houdini CORE | Houdini FX | Houdini Indie | Houdini Education | Houdini Apprentice
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“It is almost impossible to make these cakes without a 3D printer”
Dinara Kasko develops her business at the intersection of architecture, IT and confectionery art.
Her concept cakes and 3D-printed cakes are featured in media all over the world. At the time of publication, Dinara has 625,000 followers on Instagram. In an exclusive interview for ALMAMAT. IT Faces Dinara Kasko spoke about her business, education, principles of work, achievements and combining motherhood with work.
Dinara, tell us about yourself?
Dinara Kasko: At the moment, my main job is my mother. I recently had my second child. However, I continue to work as much as possible. I am an architect and designer by education. After university, she worked in the architectural field for eight years. In the process, I started baking a little, and then the hobby turned into a job. Now I am a confectioner, I have my own confectionery studio in Kharkov. I make recipes, design and sell cake molds, start production.
You can try my desserts in the cafes I cooperate with: in Moscow, in Boston, in Turkey, and now a confectionery will be launched in Qatar.
We recently vacationed in Egypt, the hotel had a buffet, we came for dinner and saw that one of the cakes was made in my form. It turns out that the forms have already entered the mass market, people from all over the world buy them, use my recipes and sell desserts to order, in their cafes and hotels.
How did three areas come together for you - IT, architecture and confectionery?
Dinara Kasko: Since childhood, I have been a creative person, I went to all kinds of circles: I was engaged in dancing, drawing and knitting, weaving tapestries. Education in the profession "Design and Architecture" covered many subjects: drawing, painting, sculpture. Naturally, we also had 3D modeling. In addition, I had a hobby - photography, I worked as a photographer for several years.
Hobbies changed, I was interested in one thing, then another, and at some point I started baking. I really liked it. All my free time I read something, bought ingredients and equipment.
When I started posting photos of my products on Instagram, it was a big boost for me, as well as for many people who have become popular thanks to social networks. People began to subscribe, and I was noticed by the Spanish magazine So Good, the largest and most popular among confectioners.
I was asked to write an article for him on the topic "Combining architecture and pastry art" - to tell and show how they can live together. At that time, I had already made one shape using a 3D printer. For the article, I made four more molds and one standard-shaped cake. They really liked what I do, and they even put a photo of my cake on the cover.
This was a breakthrough for me. It's like a model who accidentally got into the modeling business, was on the cover of Vogue magazine. I didn't have twenty years of pastry experience under my belt. This topic is just relevant. I was lucky, I got to the right place at the right time. And then the viral spread of information about me began.
Everywhere there were headlines in the spirit of "The architect became a confectioner." They began to call me an architectural confectioner.
I ended up making confectionery molds. I develop recipes, design the appearance of desserts, model shapes in 3D programs and print them on a 3D printer. It is very important for me that my work is complex and complex, otherwise I will be bored.
I made repairs in my studio, picked up equipment, organized the opening. We ordered the production of molds in a Chinese factory. I deal with deliveries and customs clearance, I draw boxes myself. I am very interested in such multitasking.
DINAR KASKO DESSERTS.
PHOTO: DINARA KASKO
How immersed are you in the process? How is it arranged?
Dinara Kasko: In principle, I can take any step. Initially, I have an idea in my head about what kind of 3D model I need to make. Previously, I created all the models myself.
It took time, but I had it. Now I have assistants - employees who design 3D models in different programs depending on the task and make silicone molds. I alone can’t physically pull it all, because there are a lot of requests.
Most often, we use the 3D Max program. In Rhinoceros and Houdini we made some shapes, we did something in SolidWorks. In the Cura program, we build models for a 3D printer. Personally, I work in 3D Max, Photoshop, ArchiCAD, Cura. And recently I did the design of the box in Adobe Illustrator, drew and selected fonts, figured out the layout.
We print the developed model on a 3D printer. I can do this myself too. I can untwist and adjust the printer, change the plastic in it. Many people think that printing a model is fast. In fact, no: some little thing - from six hours, and more serious forms - up to sixty hours. Sometimes it takes three days to print. I always try to make the print last no more than two and a half days, because the print will break if the light blinks.
First we print the tests. It happens that we try the options for a month before we print the final one, which everyone likes. It turns out a plastic mold, which we use to make silicone. I can do this too: special silicone is stirred, vacuumed and molded. Then it dries up and stabilizes.
Next for the new silicone molds, I develop recipes and prepare desserts for shooting. We freeze each cake, take it out of the silicone mold, cover it with confectionery “velor” or glaze, put it back in the refrigerator, and then defrost it again.
The next step is to take photos and videos. Then we mount the video, process the photo, write the texts and post the photos on Instagram.
People ask me questions about recipes and forms. Every day you need to keep in touch with subscribers and customers. In parallel, you need to constantly develop new forms, monitor orders and see who is doing what.
What tasks can be solved by involvement at all stages?
Dinara Kasko: I am so involved not because I like it so much, but because at the moment it is hard to find a person who will do some things better than me.
I am gradually expanding the staff. I already have a person who is engaged in correspondence. But even here there are individual issues that only I can discuss with the customer.
Of course, I understand the need to delegate. But since I'm still developing a brand and I'm just starting to sell factory forms, I really follow the quality. While I need to control the processes at each stage. Otherwise, it turns out that I gave someone the task, they did it badly - and I have to redo it myself.
Well, my business is not that big either. There are entrepreneurs for whom this is a calling. Perhaps they would have already developed this business to cosmic proportions. But there is also a family that is very important to me. Choosing between a career and a family, for the second time I make a choice in favor of a family and, in the wake of popularity, go on maternity leave. Since the beginning of last year, I stopped conducting master classes and practically did not go to work, because family matters take a lot of time.
Now I have a three-month break because the baby was born. I delegate or refuse - all this will be done later.
How do you get ahead in business with a family focus?
Dinara Kasko: I try to live in a way that makes me feel comfortable. Of course, we have deadlines and delays. I worked for eight months during my pregnancy. There were very difficult business trips and days on my feet, without sleep and food. Now I try to set myself as many tasks as I can accomplish. Suppose a client asks to do something at a certain time. I do not promise if I understand that physically we will not do it in such a time. There are always realistic deadlines.
I have a small team - 3-4 people: everyone has their own tasks, and I keep in touch with them in instant messengers. I have already managed to delegate some tasks, and I can monitor the business online.
Before going on maternity leave, I managed to make developments that continue to create a small turnover in business.
I stopped agreeing to visiting master classes in advance, equipped myself with a room in Kharkov and signed several contracts - I became the brand chef of a number of confectioneries. Cafes have already opened in Moscow and Boston, there will be an opening in Qatar, as I mentioned. In Qatar, they bought permission to use my name on a sign - the confectionery and culinary will be called Dinara Kasko Pastry Art. Now we are constantly in touch with them: we make and send forms and recipes.
It was a strategic move. I had more than a hundred invitations, and earlier I refused. But this year I agreed to become the brand chef of several establishments, because I realized that for now I can only work in this way and it will be convenient. Accordingly, despite the decree, the work is going on.
MOLD CREATING PROCESS AND DINAR KASKO DESSERT.
PHOTO: DINARA KASKO
Dinara Kasko: “I develop recipes, think over the appearance of desserts, model shapes in 3D programs and print them on a 3D printer”
Do you have a favorite architectural cake?
Dinara Kasko: I have never had a favorite cake, I have a sweet tooth. And from an aesthetic point of view, there is no favorite. They are all beautiful in their own way in different angles and colors. I can never single out: “I like this form the most.” Maybe someday there will be a favorite form, while I like everyone.
Could architectural cakes be made without a 3D printer?
Dinara Kasko: It is almost impossible to make them without a 3D printer, because the printer prints accurately, clearly, millimeter by millimeter: all edges are even, the shapes are clear. Even if you make a mold out of gypsum or plasticine, it will not be the same.
So this is an evolutionary step in confectionery history?
Dinara Kasko: Yes. I can’t say that I discovered it - there have already been experiments with food 3D printers. But I certainly am engaged in popularization of this idea. I have many followers.
When they are looking for an idea for a business, they often think: “Everything has already been invented.” As a professional spreading the IT/architectural approach to creating desserts, what do you think is the next step in the art of confectionery?
Dinara Kasko: I think there will always be something new. Even in our small confectionery world, there are now many options for where to move. There are many competitions and major exhibitions on the international arena. For example, competitions on topics such as "sculpture from chocolate", "sculpture from ice", "sculpture from bread", "bread pastries", "sweets", "chocolate". There are ice cream world championships all over the world. The restaurants I've been invited to are doing experimental dinners: they put on theater shows, serve interesting food, use technology.
Certainly some base will remain, people will always love "Napoleon" and "Honey cake" and return to it one way or another. In any country there is a classic, and this does not change momentarily. But everything develops in different directions. Six years ago, when I started baking, you could buy hemisphere and cube shapes - there were literally a few of them. And now there are already a huge number of forms, more and more stores that sell ingredients and forms.
Somewhere it only comes, but somewhere there is already an overabundance. About four years ago, it became fashionable for us to go to confectionery courses. Teaching was very rewarding and profitable. Then the supply exceeded the demand: there were a lot of teachers, courses were no longer recruited, online courses appeared.
It is noticeable how the topic of food came to the fore. Why do you think?
Dinara Kasko: First of all, thanks to Instagram. Because Instagram is girls, cats, food, fun.
Food is a very big engine of Instagram. People love to look at delicious and beautiful pictures. For many, this remains the picture. If you dig deeper, then the topic of food develops only in large cities and only for those who can afford it. My subjective opinion: 80 percent of people do not go to any establishments. They may have started to buy more groceries as the choice in supermarkets is wider, but many remain conservative. I communicate in chats with people of my age: many still buy factory-made mayonnaise, cook Olivier. It would seem that this has long exhausted itself, there are new trends and dishes, but many live in that time. At the same time, we are moving forward, and more and more people are interested in modern things.
DINAR CAKES.
PHOTO: DINARA KASKO
How did you get your confectionery education?
Dinara Kasko: Pastry courses are expensive, and some are very expensive. Usually from 300 to 2500 dollars for 3-5 days.
When I started going to courses, the average price was $400, then 600, 700, 1500 euros for a weekly or even three-day offsite course. I flew to courses in Spain, France, St. Petersburg. Basically, to schools that invited chefs.
I took courses from eminent chefs whose work I liked. Often these were world champions. I took courses for confectioners such as Guillaume Mabilleau, Martin Diez, Frank Haasnoot, Julien Álvarez and Emmanuel Ryon at the Kyiv International Culinary Academy. I also went to courses in Europe with chefs Carlos Mampel, Nicolas Boussin, David Kohler, Angelo Musa, Sandra Ornelas, David Gil and others. Last year I took classes with Jordi Bordas and Melissa Coppel.
In total, I took more than twenty courses, and on average they cost 400-500 dollars. It turns out about 10,000 dollars, but it was much more spent, because each time it was a flight and accommodation, and often we traveled as a family.
Teachers have different fees. For beginners - from $ 300 per day.
At a higher level, the average figure for a foreign chef is $1,500. There are titled chefs who charge 3,000 or even 5,000 euros a day for teaching a course. Also, the chef is paid for accommodation and meals, a business class hotel. This is open information, you can write an invitation to any chef, ask his rider, and he will tell you how much his work costs.
Why did you take so many courses?
Dinara Kasko: Because some new technologies, methods, recipes, ingredients are constantly appearing. If five years ago we boiled pectin thickener instead of gelatin, and this was already an achievement, now new brands have appeared that produce more modern confectionery ingredients. You must constantly develop and know all modern recipes in order to be in trend. Gluten-free, lactose-free, sugar-free, vegan desserts have become popular. There are chefs who teach the chemistry of processes at special confectionery courses. Now you need to know a lot more if you want to teach and develop recipes in order to be appreciated in the confectionery world.
Naturally, you can just stand on the process in the restaurant. You will be shown something, and you will do the same thing every day. But if you stand on the process every day and do not learn anything new, then you will not be noticed in the industry.
When I started baking, I didn't think it would become my job and I didn't see it as a future business. But over the years I have invested a lot in confectionery education. Last year I went to study.
Investments in education start to pay off at some point. How did it happen for you?
Dinara Kasko: They started calling me to teach. I posted my desserts on Instagram and people started asking me to sell the molds. At first I did a little, went to the post office and sent it myself. And then I realized that I don’t have time for this, and asked a friend to do it, then we found someone else. Now all sales go automatically, I myself no longer deal with orders. I can help the employees with something, but in general the system is well-established and they manage on their own.
When we ordered the production of molds in China, we specifically paid for the travel to a person who flew from Ukraine to China, inspected each mold and put it in a box. It is important for us that it be of good quality, so that there are no bad reviews later, so that marriage does not come to a person. This is how we always work. If someone does not like something, we return the money. I am scrupulous about the courses that I conduct around the world. I always try to give more information, additionally show some more cakes, give forms as bonuses. I strive to please people. At this stage, there is a lot of investment in quality.
DINAR KASKO DESSERTS.
PHOTO: DINARA KASKO
How are the mold sales going?
Dinara Kasko: The numbers fluctuate, sales volumes always grow due to my activity on Instagram. If there is no activity, then there may be one sale per day, two or three. If we launch a new mold, we can sell 10-20 molds a day.
One form costs $ 55, respectively, can be calculated.
There are things that affect sales that are out of my control. For example, interruptions in materials for printing forms: they may not be available for 2-3 months at all. We buy material in Europe, and it happens that the factory simply does not release it. For example, a supplier has holidays, and they do not work all August.
How would you describe the achievements of your brand and business so far?
Dinara Kasko: We have a lot of publications in the media, commercial offers and invitations to speak at conferences on 3D printing and confectionery exhibitions. I am often called to shoot shows in Italy, Australia and America.
The cover of So Good magazine was a major achievement for me. I was the third Russian-speaking chef who got into this authoritative magazine. Before me, only Maria Selyanina and Tatyana Verbitskaya were there. I had a very large article, eighteen pages plus a cover.
Many do not even dream of such a thing - and for me it was something supernatural. After that publication, many publications wrote about me, and in three months 300,000 subscribers came to me.
Another achievement was the project in which four chefs were the first to receive the fourth type of chocolate - Ruby, "ruby" chocolate. It is pink in color and has a floral and berry flavor. Now it is already on sale. Barry Callebaut has been developing the recipe for ten years and presented this chocolate two years ago in Shanghai. Now, in addition to black, milk and white, there is ruby chocolate. I made a composition of cakes for a presentation in Shanghai. It was a big event in the confectionery world and I was honored to be invited to such an event.
We also made a cake for the cover of Land Rover magazine. The company was celebrating 70 years, it was a big project. We have released special forms for the presentation of a jewelry brand. We recently did a project for the eyewear brand Dita.
And then we will work on a project for an IT brand, everything is secret there for now. ALMAMAT. IT Faces
0003
creating figures, models, how to make sketches stl file, draw a detail
Before creating any product on a 3D printer, you will first need to make a digital sketch of it. To do this, you should develop a model or layout of the product in a specialized program. Consider which 3D models are most popular for layer-by-layer printing, the nuances and step-by-step instructions for their creation.
What are 3D printer sketches and why are they needed?
Sketches (also have the name of the model, layouts, blanks) for a 3D printer are digital files made in STL format using specialized programs. They schematically describe the geometry of the surface of a three-dimensional object, without taking into account its texture and color.
To print an STL sketch, you will need the 3D printer control code compiled by the slicer. In simple terms, the model will need to be pre-cut in the slicer program into layers that will be sequentially printed by the printer. Typically, such a file has a gcode extension.
Which layouts are in demand?
3D printing is a versatile tool that can be used to print a wide variety of products. Most often, ten types of layouts are used to create various types of products:
- Auto parts - plastic washer nozzles, latches, plugs, fasteners, manifolds and other expensive or scarce parts.
- Souvenir products - caskets, figurines, figurines, emblems, badges, pens, key chains, cases, toys, icons, jewelry, game sets (checkers, chess, backgammon), coasters and organizers.
- Personal protective equipment - plastic face shield, disposable mask clip, hands-free door opener.
- Educational and advertising layouts for visual display.
- Surgical and dental models of bones, organs, teeth, prostheses.
- Fishing products - reels, nods of various thicknesses and stiffness, sequins for tying flies.
- Holders for phones, cups, cameras and other items for bicycles or car interiors.
- Accessories and decorative elements for clothes.
- Parts for household appliances - handles for washing machines, microwave ovens and various kitchen utensils, plastic control buttons, small plastic parts from blenders, coffee makers and kettles.
- Musical instruments (guitars, flutes, violins, drums, pianos, banjos) and parts for them.
How to make a drawing yourself?
A drawing to create a 3D product on a printer must first be made schematically, and then transferred as a three-dimensional model to a special 3D modeling program. A schematic drawing of an object with a display of all sizes and spatial arrangement is performed on a sheet of paper using measuring tools (ruler, compass, caliper).
What programs are needed to create a model?
You can create a 3D model using a full featured 3D modeling editor.
Here is a short list of the most convenient programs for work:
- Free - Blender, Sculptris, Daz Studio, Softimage Mod Tool, Vue, OpenSCAD, FreeCAD, TinkerCAD.
- Paid - AutoCad, Houdini, 3DS Max, Cinema 4D, Meshmixer, Modo, SolidWorks, Sculptris, Maya, Rhinoceros, 3D, ZBrush, SketchUp.
Preparatory steps
For the convenience of working in any of the 3D modeling programs, it is recommended that the user first set up the working environment for layouts for 3D printers.
Then, in the units of measurement settings block, you should set the metric system of measurements and set the scale. After that, you can start creating the object.
Creating a 3D object
The steps involved in creating a 3D layout directly will depend on the functionality of the program being used. If we consider the process in general, without being tied to a specific editor, then the creation of an object will be performed in the following order:0003
- Selection of model appearance options.
At this stage, one of the templates preinstalled in the program can be taken as a basis. - After adding a shape to the workspace, you can use levers and various modifiers (extrusions, roundings, indentations) that will make the model unique.
- In parallel with the creation of the model, its dimensions and dimensions of individual parts should be adjusted.
- The final step is choosing colors and textures for the shape.
Checking the design against the general guidelines
Before finalizing the creation of a 3D object, consider the most important aspects that will affect the quality of the finished product and optimize the design. For correct printing of the model on a 3D printer, it is recommended that the surfaces of the figure in the project do not overlap. This should not be allowed, as a failure may occur during printing, which will lead to problems with the quality of the figure itself. Therefore, all surfaces of a three-dimensional object should only touch, forming a single model.
Exporting a project
Exporting a finished project in STL format is the final step in preparing a 3D model for printing. It is carried out in the following order:
- In the "File" tab menu, select the "Export", "Save as ..." or "Save project" item
- or removable media.
- After saving the project, it is transferred to a USB flash drive or SD card that can be inserted into a printer, or printed directly from a computer if it is connected to a 3D printer.
What to consider in order to create a 3D model without errors?
You can prevent defective or inferior parts from printing when creating a 3D model. To do this, you should take into account the most common user errors in the process of creating a layout, such as:
- Lack of support.
- Creates features that are too thin.
Adding support
When creating a complex 3D object with multiple transitions, be sure to provide supports (supports) in the project that will support the sections of the model hanging in the air.
The supports are printed with the model and can be easily removed after printing is complete.
Wall thickness and hole diameter
The lines created in the project should not be too thin. Since elements that are very tiny in thickness can turn out to be very fragile or not printed due to the characteristics of the extruder nozzle.
When using an FDM printer for printing, it is recommended to simulate the walls of objects with a thickness that is equal to at least two diameters of the printer's extruder nozzle. When printing on a photopolymer 3D printer, the thickness of the thinnest part should not exceed 0.5 mm.
Therefore, if there are thin parts, you should get rid of them. And if this is not possible, then you should either increase them or add support.
Creating a 3D sketch, drawing or model for 3D printing is an easy process that you can learn on your own. To print simple objects, you will need to learn the basics of 3D modeling, which will be easy to reflect on a specific printer.
